Tose (company)

Tose Co., Ltd.^[a] (TYO: 4728) (also called Tose Software) is a Japanese video game development company based in Kyoto. It is mostly known for developing Nintendo's Game & Watch Gallery series, various Dragon Ball games, as well as other Nintendo products. Tose has developed or co-developed over 1,000 games since the company's inception in 1979, but is virtually never credited in the games themselves (an exception to this is Scarlet Nexus with Namco, Game & Watch Gallery 4 and The Legendary Starfy series, as Tose shares the copyright with Nintendo).^[2] Tose maintains a policy of having no creative input into the work they do, going so far as to refuse to put their names in the credits for most of the games they work on. As such, Tose has gained a reputation for being a "ghost developer".^[3]

Tose Co., Ltd.

Native name	株式会社トーセ
Company type	Public (K.K)
Traded as	TYO: 4728
Industry	Video games
Founded	November 1979; 44 years ago (1979-11)
Headquarters	Kyoto , Japan
Key people	Shigeru Saito (Chairman & CEO) Yasuhito Watanabe (President & COO)
Products	The Legendary Starfy series Game & Watch Gallery series
Number of employees	630 (2022)^[1]
Website	tose.co.jp

History

Tose was established in November 1979 in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, as an independent entity from Toa Seiko Co. Ltd. It moved its head office to Otokuni-gun, Kyoto Prefecture in May 1986. In July 1988, Tose moved its head office to Yamazaki, Kyoto. In May 1990, Tose began developing software for the Game Boy and the Super Famicom.

In August 1999, Tose was listed on the Osaka Securities Exchange 2nd Section and the Kyoto Stock Exchange. In October of that year, Tose's Kyoto Head office was opened at Shijo-Karasuma, which integrated its head office functions with the Karasuma CG Center. On 27 September 2000, Tose was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange 2nd Section.^[4] In August 2001, it was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange 1st Section and Osaka Securities Exchange 1st Section.

On 18 December 2007, Tose announced the leakage of its business information onto the Internet, which was discovered the day before. The leak included 10 pieces of information relating to customer names, development cases, development contents, development fees, and reception time.^[5]

On September 1, 2011, Tose announced the separation of its amusement machine development business from its second game development department (ゲーム事業部開発２部) into a separate amusement machine developer (AM開発部).^[6]

List of games developed by Tose

NOTE: Some of these titles are merely believed or assumed to be developed by Tose, due to information compiled by various amateur and professional journalists. Most have not been officially confirmed as Tose-developed products by any of the games' publishers, co-developers, nor Tose itself. Many of the games released by Bandai, Tomy Corporation, Jaleco, Taito, Namco, Tonkin House were developed by Tose.

See also Category:Tose (company) games

Arcade

• Vanguard (1981)
• Vanguard II (1984)
• Data Carddass Aikatsu Planet! (2020)

Family Computer/Nintendo Entertainment System

• Exerion (1985)
• Field Combat (1985)
• Chubby Cherub (1985)
• Ikki (1985)
• M.U.S.C.L.E. (1985)
• City Connection (1985)
• Mississippi Satsujin Jiken (1986)
• Mappy-Land (1986)
• Choplifter (1986)
• Dragon Power (1986)
• Ninja Kid (1986)
• Urusei Yatsura: Lum no Wedding Bell (1986)
• Bases Loaded (1987)
• Karaoke Studio (1987)
• Lupin Sansei: Pandora no Isan (1987)
• Uchūsen: Cosmo Carrier (1987)
• Goal! (1988)
• Bases Loaded II: Second Season (1988)
• Racket Attack (1988)
• Demon Sword (1988)
• Dragon Ball: Daimaou Fukkatsu (1988)
• Pinball Quest (1989)
• Oishinbo: Kyukyoku no Menu 3bon Syoubu (1989)
• Sakigake!! Otokojuku: Shippu Ichi Gou Sei (1989)
• Famicom Jump: Hero Retsuden (1989)
• Bandai Golf: Challenge Pebble Beach (1989)
• Shooting Range (1989)
• Dusty Diamond's All-Star Softball (1989)
• Terao no Dosukoi Ōzumō (1989)
• Short Order / Eggsplode! (1989)
• Akuma-kun: Makai no Wana (1990)
• Bases Loaded 3 (1990)
• NES Play Action Football (1990)
• Frankenstein: The Monster Returns (1991)
• Bases Loaded 4 (1991)
• Golf Grand Slam (1991)
• Toxic Crusaders (1992, NES only)
• Legends of the Diamond (1992, NES only)
• Yoshi's Cookie (1992, NES & Game Boy only)
• Tetris 2 (1993 video game) (1993, NES & Game Boy only)
• Rokudenashi Blues (1993)
• Dragon Ball Z Gaiden: Saiya-jin Zetsumetsu Keikaku (1993)
• Battle Rush: Build Up Robot Tournament (1993)
• Pro Sport Hockey (1993)
• Crayon Shin-Chan: Ora to Poi Poi (1993)
• J. League Super Top Players (1994)

Famicom Disk System

• Famicom Tantei Club: Kieta Kōkeisha (1988)

Super Famicom/Super NES

• Super Tennis (1991)
• Super Bases Loaded (1991)
• Goal! (1992)
• Dig & Spike Volleyball (1992)
• Super Professional Baseball II (1992)
• Super Play Action Football (1992, Super NES only)
• Bazooka Blitzkrieg (1992)
• Super Bases Loaded 2 (1993)
• Super Goal! 2 (1993)
• Namco Open (1993)
• Rokudenashi Blues (1994)
• Hana no Keiji: Kumo no Kanata ni (1994)
• Takeda Nobuhiro no Super League Soccer (1994)
• Super Bases Loaded 3 (1994)
• Gon (1994)
• Natsuki Crisis Battle (1995)
• Sterling Sharpe: End 2 End (1995, Super NES only)
• Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiya Densetsu (1992)
• Dragon Ball Z: Super Butouden (1993)
• Dragon Ball Z: Super Butouden 2 (1993)
• Dragon Ball Z: Super Butouden 3 (1994)
• Pro Sport Hockey (1994)
• Dragon Ball Z: Chou Gokuu Den: Kakusei-hen (1995)
• Dragon Ball Z: Chou Gokuu Den: Totsugeki-hen (1995)
• Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension (1996)

Game Boy

• Boxing (1990)
• Karakuri Kengou Den Musashi Lord (1991)
• Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters (1991)
• Soccer (1991)
• Yoshi's Cookie (1992, NES & Game Boy only)
• Tetris 2 (1993, NES & Game Boy only)
• Takeda Nobuhiro no Ace Striker (1994)
• Kirby's Block Ball (1995)
• Arcade Classic No. 3: Galaga/Galaxian (1995)
• Game Boy Gallery (1995)
• Sports Collection (1996)
• Namco Gallery Vol. 1 (1996)
• Namco Gallery Vol. 2 (1996)
• Namco Gallery Vol. 3 (1997)
• Game & Watch Gallery (1997)

Game Boy Color

• Dragon Warrior Monsters (1998)^[7]
• Game & Watch Gallery 2 (1998)^[7]
• Game & Watch Gallery 3 (1999)^[7]
• Dragon Warrior I & II (1999)
• Metal Gear: Ghost Babel (2000)^[7]
• Winnie the Pooh: Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood (2000)
• Dragon Warrior III (2000)
• Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 (2001)

Game Boy Advance

• Densetsu no Stafy (2002)^[7][8]
• Shrek: Hassle at the Castle (2002)
• Game & Watch Gallery 4 (2002)^[7]
• Densetsu no Stafy 2 (2003)^[7]
• Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart (2003)
• Shrek: Reekin' Havoc (2003)
• Slime Mori Mori Dragon Quest (2003)
• Densetsu no Stafy 3 (2004)^[7]
• The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King (2005)^[7]

Virtual Boy

• Mario's Tennis (1995)

PlayStation

• Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22 (1995)
• Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout (1997)
• Theme Aquarium (1998)^[9][10]
• Thousand Arms (1998)^[11]
• Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (1998)^[12]
• Resident Evil Survivor (2000)
• Bass Landing (2000)
• Bass Landing 2 (2001)

PlayStation 2

• The King of Route 66 (co-developed with Sega-AM2, 2003)^[7]
• The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge (2005)
• Code of the Samurai (co-developed with Red Entertainment)

GameCube

• Resident Evil Zero (2002)

PlayStation 3

• Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (co-developed with Square Enix and tri-Ace, 2013)

PlayStation 4

• World of Final Fantasy (co-developed with Square Enix, 2016)
• The King of Fighters XIV (co-developed with SNK, 2016)
• Scarlet Nexus (co-developed with Bandai Namco Entertainment, 2021)
• Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion (co-developed with Square Enix, 2022)

PlayStation 5

• Scarlet Nexus (co-developed with Bandai Namco Entertainment, 2021)
• Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion (co-developed with Square Enix, 2022)

PlayStation Portable

• Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth (2006)
• Ultimate Ghosts'n Goblins (2006)
• Star Ocean: First Departure (2007)^[13]
• Star Ocean: Second Evolution (2008)

PlayStation Vita

• World of Final Fantasy (co-developed with Square Enix, 2016)

Nintendo DS

• Naruto RPG 2: Chidori vs. Rasengan (2005)
• Super Princess Peach (2005)^[7]
• Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime (2005)^[7]
• Sega Casino (2005)
• Avatar: The Last Airbender (2006)^[7]
• Densetsu no Stafy 4 (2006)^[7]
• Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker (2006)^[7]
• Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2 (2006)
• MySims (2007)
• Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Burning Earth (2007)
• Naruto Shippūden: Dairansen! Kage Bunshin Emaki (2008)
• MySims Kingdom (2008)
• Ragnarok DS (2008)
• Crash: Mind Over Mutant (2008)
• The Legendary Starfy (2008)^[7]
• WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 (2008)
• WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 (2009)
• MySims Agents (2009)
• Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 (2010)
• Planes (2013)
• Tetris DS (unreleased)

Wii

• Pac-Man Party (2010)
• Fortune Street (2011)

Nintendo 3DS

• Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D (2011)
• Slime Mori Mori Dragon Quest 3 (2011)
• Resident Evil: Revelations (2012)
• Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry's Wonderland 3D (2012)
• Planes (2013)
• Dragon Quest Monsters 2: Iru and Luca's Marvelous Mysterious Key (2014)
• Fire Emblem Fates (castle modeling support for Intelligent Systems, 2015)
• Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 3 (2016)
• WarioWare Gold (2018)

Wii U

• Paper Mario Color Splash (environment art support for Intelligent Systems, 2016)

Nintendo Switch

• Splatoon 2 (2017)^[14]
• Paper Mario: The Origami King (2020)
• Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir (Remake) (2021)
• WarioWare: Get It Together! (Co-developed with Intelligent Systems, 2021)
• Dragon Quest Treasures (Co-developed with Square Enix, 2022)
• Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion (co-developed with Square Enix, 2022)
• Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince (Co-developed with Square Enix, 2023)^[15]

Dreamcast

• Resident Evil – Code: Veronica (2000)

PC

• GONG! Online (2007)

Android, iOS

• Fight League (2017)^[16]
• Nijigasaki High School Idol Club TOKIMEKI RunRuns (2022)^[17]

Games ported by Tose

Tose has ported a few games, including Square and Enix games for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super NES.

• Chrono Trigger (PlayStation, Nintendo DS)^[18]
• Front Mission (Nintendo DS)
• Final Fantasy Origins and Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls (ports of Final Fantasy I & II for the PlayStation and Game Boy Advance, respectively)^[7]
• Final Fantasy IV (PlayStation, Game Boy Advance)^[7]
• Final Fantasy V (PlayStation, Game Boy Advance)^[7]
• Final Fantasy VI (PlayStation, Game Boy Advance)^[7]
• Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth (PlayStation Portable)^[7]
• Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (PlayStation Portable)
• Star Ocean: First Departure (PlayStation Portable)
• Star Ocean: Second Evolution (PlayStation Portable)
• Resident Evil Revelations HD (Windows, PlayStation 3, Wii U, Xbox 360)
• Ōkami (Wii, co-developed with Ready At Dawn)
• 2002 FIFA World Cup (GameCube, co-developed with EA Canada, Creations, and Intelligent Games)
• Metal Gear Solid (Windows port)
• Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop (port of Dead Rising for Wii)
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo Switch port) ^[19]

Notes

1. Japanese: 株式会社トーセ, Hepburn: Kabushiki-gaisha Tōse

References

1. "Company profile" (PDF). Tose Co., Ltd. February 28, 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
2. Sheffield, Brandon (2006-05-18). "Tose: Game Development Ninjas". Game Developer. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
3. Cifaldi, Frank (2006-04-20). "The Connection is Made: Developer Highlights from Game Connection 2006 (Part Two)". Game Developer. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
4. . 2007-10-27. Archived from the original on 2007-10-27. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
5. 業務情報の漏洩に関するお知らせ^{[permanent dead link]}
6. (PDF). 2011-10-30. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-10-30. Retrieved 2023-04-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
7. Kennedy, Sam (2007-01-24). "Tose: Gaming's Dirty Little Secret". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-16. Retrieved 2009-05-22.
8. . 2007-10-26. Archived from the original on 2007-10-26. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
9. Rose, Mike (May 1, 2013). "What the heck is Bullfrog's Theme Aquarium?". Gamasutra. UBM Technology Group. Retrieved 2024-02-25.
10. "Aquarium (1998) PlayStation release dates". MobyGames. Blue Flame Labs. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
11. Hill, Doug (October 14, 1999). . RPGamer.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-30. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
12. Caoili, Eric (December 29, 2010). "Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers' Fan-Translation Trailer". GameSetWatch. Retrieved 2015-05-13.^{[permanent dead link]}
13. Seedhouse, Alex (May 25, 2019). "Star Ocean: First Departure R Announced For Nintendo Switch". Nintendo Insider. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
14. "Supported the development of "Splatoon2" for Nintendo Switch (TM). | News | TOSE CO., LTD". www.tose.co.jp. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
15. "3rd Quarter of Fiscal Year Ending August 31, 2023" (PDF). Tose Co, Ltd.
16. "Supported the development of smartphone app, "Fight League（TM）". | News | TOSE CO., LTD". www.tose.co.jp. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
17. "TOSE group developed "Nijigasaki High School idol club TOKIMEKI RunRuns", one of LOVE LIVE! series. | News | TOSE CO., LTD". www.tose.co.jp. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
18. "Nintendo Power Holiday 2008". Nintendo Power. Vol. 236. 2008. p. 82.
19. Zelda Breath Of The Wild Playthrough - Credits, retrieved 2022-12-13